I can see that. For me, that is what happens when I fasted also. I could lose weight fasting, but then it all comes right back. And I was definitely not eating too many calories. I know this because I anally track daily.

Some day, I won't have to. But for now, I feel I need to. I have no clue what anything has. Even all the things you mentioned, all sounds good, but I dont have a clue the calories or macros, and I get what you are saying, don't worry about it, but for me, for now, I feel like I have to in order to meet my goals. The first thing ppl say when you say you arent losing weight, ppl say well you must be eating too much, calories do matter. So this way, I know.

You are correct, it's not magic. Just a tool. Maybe a crutch to some. To eat crappy on the weekend or eat their 20% but now instead of feeling bloated for a few days to a week and just deal with it, there are a few things they can do about it, if they want to. I dont think anyone is saying anyone has to. And the only "preaching" is when someone questions it. In fact, most of it was contained to it's own little thread(s). But when it is questioned in other threads or round about ways referenced, I dont see the harm in presenting the other side. People can make up their own minds.

It would be dead on other threads and self-contained to its own, if others didnt drag it out. Just like the fast threads and the more fat thread. Doesnt interest me anymore, and rather than go and regurgitate why it doesnt work for me, I just let it be. It works for some ppl so why should I go rain on their parade just cuz I am not one of them. We all have to find our way.

But the good thing though, and why these forums are good, is that it does get ppl talking. People thinking. It is good that we learn from each other. Things that work. Things that don't. Things we want to try and things to stay away from. I know for me, I tried to do what worked for others, and it just didnt work for me. So I could have quit. I could have wondered forever what was wrong with me, instead I kept reading. I kept learning. I kept trying.

So it is good to have opposing sides and opinions even though we all stem from the same primal place.

What is it with this belief there should be a quick way to accomplish ANYTHING? Accomplishment takes work. I don't care what the Potato Diet is. It's a crash diet. It's a quick fix. IN MY OPINION (read that again) it's an "easy" solution for someone who doesn't want to do hard work.

I still enjoy potatoes while eating Primal. I don't gorge myself on them or only eat them for days on end. That would ultimately be unhealthy. Instead, I have them as part of a well thought out meal plan. Well, as well thought out as I can have eating in the chow halls out here right now. When home, my wife and I enjoy mashed sweet potatoes, or roasted baby potatoes with a roast. BUT, I realize they are one of many healthy food options. Not a magic pill.

Hey, Althaur! I think this is a good thread you started. I take it from you being in Afghanistan you are in the military. I did 21 years in the USAF and spent many, many months in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, as well as many African locations between the wars.

When I was in, I ate whatever I wanted and exercised as little as possible. As long as I kept under my weight max and could do my annual PT test, I was golden. It looks like you maybe have a little more sense in how you are eating than I did.

One of the big secrets to fast weight loss for a weigh-in was Atkins. Meat and lettuce for 2 weeks and you'd drop 10 pounds easy. 2 weeks later, you'd gain it all back plus a few. And that effort was used to keep me at a level considered obese! When I first joined at age 17, I was a skinny 155 pound kid. By age 20, I was at 180 and when I retired I weighed 210 (I'm 5'10).

Within 2 years of retiring, I weighed 250, was on meds for high bp, high trigs, high chol (statins), hypothyroid, sleep apnea, gout, and pre-diabetic. I was eating whole-grain/low-fat and getting worse. I'd bounce between 220-250. I found paleo/Primal Blueprint in 2010, quickly got down to 185lbs, then spent 12 months getting to 175. During this time I got off all meds and bloodwork is perfect. I went from not being able to do 1 pullup to doing 30.

I was stuck at 175 for 6 months, exercising, IF'ing, carb loading, keto'ing, and all the normal hacks when I came across the idea of eating a starchy, single food diet for 1-2 weeks which would kick your fat-loss into overdrive, while at the same time building huge stores of friendly gut bacteria and stabilizing blood sugar/insulin. I tried it quietly because it seemed like utter BS. I ate potatoes for 2 weeks and lost 10 pounds. I was able to get down to 160 pounds-- a weight I hadn't seen since Boot Camp. After resuming normal PB eating, I lost 2 more pounds then stabilized at about 165 where I've been for about 6 months now.

I am working on a personal plan to keep starchy foods in my daily menu and use the 'Potato Reset' to maintain my weight between 162-168 year-round. At this weight, I don't snore, sleep like a baby, have energy I can't believe, and stay extremely motivated to lift heavy things, sprint and walk 3-5 miles a day.

I have to say I am impressed with all of you that can do the potato diet. I am on day 2 of the GAPS intro diet, which is mostly soups and I am finding it very trying. I really can't imagine eating just potatoes; I am sure I would be impossible to live with.

From some stuff I've read, whether we crash off the weight or follow the solid 2 lbs/wk advice, most of us will put it back on within five years. Part of it is lack of planning or the mindset that diet is a temporary thing, but part of it is some hormone that makes people who lose a lot of weight feel hungry.

That said, while I find primal to be a very healthy way of eating, for those who need more than a few pounds lost per year to stay interested, I don't see any problem with occasionally doing a three day fast or doing 400-500 calories twice a week, or even eating a single food for a week. When one considers the amount of disease attributed to obesity, I believe that anything that doesn't harm a person is a good way to lose weight.

I know I always come back to quitting smoking, but I find that the same people who would be fine with someone taking an antidepressant to quit smoking are far more critical of people who want to lose weight taking short cuts. So, even people who are "into health," don't take the problems of obesity seriously. It's not a vanity thing. A person who smokes will probably die of something related to smoking. But it is also true that a morbidly obese person will also most likely die from something related to that obesity.

"Right is right, even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it." - St. Augustine

Good post. I do see this as a lifestyle. So far, I feel terrific eating this way. I exercise harder than Mark would recommend (I do P90X) but it feels good to me and does not feel like I'm overtraining. I did Insanity for a while and that DID feel like I was overtraining and I stopped. But the dietary component of PB is working for me and I feel great. I see no reason why I can't do this for life. Over the holidays I kept things very moderate and only went off-plan for Thanksgiving and New Years and I lost 11 lbs during that time period. I don't have a bunch of cravings for sweets and junk and don't want to sabotage the work I've done so far by eating a bunch of crap.

From some stuff I've read, whether we crash off the weight or follow the solid 2 lbs/wk advice, most of us will put it back on within five years. Part of it is lack of planning or the mindset that diet is a temporary thing

Very true. I have a childhood friend who has struggled with his weight for his whole life. I have no idea what the stats are, but he's yo-yoed between slim and borderline obese, many times. Last time I met him he told me that he's lost and gained half a tonne in his life

Nutrition is a vital component to being the right weight for you, but for many people there's an emotional aspect too. I think there needs to be a holistic approach or it doesn't work, long term. You can sort out the outer problem til you deal with the inner.

Originally Posted by Leida

Exactly. Even if restrictions do not at the first glance appear to be severe or crazy it can potentially trigger really bad reactions. Been there. I know, it's hard to believe, but I think a lot of us are self-medicating through food instinctively. And if you happen to self-medicated through a white potato or banana, and the Whole 30 tells you not to eat it, or you gotta drop bananas to cut down the BF%, well, the end result is unlikely to be a success.

I am supplementing magnesium, after experiencing leg cramps of my lifetime. I did not before because I love, just love buckwheat and ate it all my life before going paleo. Coincidence?

Actually, that for me would lead to Bobert's statement about the potato diet - it might be gaining so much attention because the restriction on the potatoes is not the high point of the Primal. It makes a very acute point, contrasting the satiation mechanisms of a ketonic vs resistant starch. However, if you look at the data, there is always a portion of people who try who do stellar on either. Hunger shuts down, they feel happy and not obsessed with food - they managed to re-acquire the nutrient and the chemicals that balanced their system. Fasting works the same for a number of people. However, in all likelihood, most people are not so strongly attuned or so well adjusted to succeed on the restrictions. The wider the variety of foods they eat that do not hurt them the more is the likelihood that they are satisfying their body needs.

it is in the Old Book

Originally Posted by gopintos

Yal, there's a new fast thread too.
There is a new more fat thread too.

I dont know, I dont see the big deal of people tweaking primal to meet their goals. Even Mark writes of eating things (like sweet tators & tators) to knock you off a plateau. He also writes of eating seasonally, which means lots of whatever, and if I am not mistaken, that is what his other new book will be about.

So while it might not be in this book, sounds like it might be in the next one. And that might not be the right context, I don't know. But when you see new studies, new experiments, new information, some things might be subject to change. That is why PB was written in the first place, to go against the grain of CW in an attempt to get some new ideas and new thinking out there. Sometimes what we think is, isn't and what we think isn't, is. (I know, that's deep. It just came to me)

his old book on page 268
Primal approved at a glance.Very Bottom of the page.

Oh no, I meant I didnt have that, or know about it, when I bought my PB. It wasnt until I bought PHD at Amazon that I realized I could get that Cloud thing on my computer. But thanks for the info though. I feel like I have fallen behind the times with most of the recent technologies. Much past the laptop & flip phone, boggles my brain